Factory truck construction



April 15, 1958 H. T. 'HALLOWELI. ETAL 2,830,362

FACTORY TRUCK CONSTRUCTi-ON Original Filed Aug. 13, 1951 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6 1 4 *F/ Q v .HZWCZTHM Fran/55W mm April 15, 1958 H. T. HALLOWELL EIAL 2,830,362

FACTORY TRUCK CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Aug. 13, 1951 2 SheetsSheet 2 UnitedStates Batent FACTORY TRUCK CONSTRUCTION,

Howard T. Hallowell, Jenkintown, and Frank Bennett, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors, by mesne assignments, to The American Pulley Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application August 13, 1951, Serial No. 241,638,

now Patent No. 2,712,452, dated July 5, 1955. Divided and this application February 28, 1955, Serial No. 494,624

2 Claims. (Cl. 29-455) This application is a division of our co-pending application for United States Patent Serial No. 241,638, now matured into Patent No. 2,712,452.

This invention relates to improvements in factory trucks and relates more particularly to an improved method of fabricating socketed corners in truck bodies of this class.

A principal object of the invention is to provide an improved and economical method of producing socketed corners in truck bodies of the stated class.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the attached drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a factory truck having a socketed corner made in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in perspective of a corner of a sheet metal blank used in the production of a factory truck having a socketed corner structure produced by the method of our invention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top perspective view of a corner of the factory truck in an intermediate stage of formanon;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged top perspective view of the completed corner structure;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged bottom perspective view, looking inwardly, of the corner in an intermediate stage of formation;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged bottom perspective view of the completed corner;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged bottom perspective view, looking outwardly of a corner in the intermediate stage of completion;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged bottom perspective view, looking outwardly, of the corner completed;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 9-9, Fig. 1.

With reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the factory truck therein illustrated is of a type to which the corner structure of the present invention is applicable. This truck comprises an integral sheet metal body member 1 of generally rectangular form having in each corner thereof a socket 2 made in accordance with our invention. The corner structure 2 comprises a tubular member 3, see particularly Figs. 4, 6, 8 and 9, the lower end of which is drawn to a reduced inside diameter, said members fonning sockets for stakes or for the lower ends of the posts 4 of end racks of the character indicated in Fig; l by the reference numeral 5. The sheet metal body 1 terminates at each edge in a flange 6 bent downwardly and inwardly at 7 and 8 respectively to form a channel 9, see Fig. 7, which extends the full length of each side of the body 1.

The body member 1 is formed from a flat rectangular blank, one corner of which is shown in Fig. 2. Each of the corners is shaped so that when the flanges 6 of the adjoining sides are bent downwardly and inwardly at 7 and 8 respectively, the upper surface of the blank 2,830,362 Patented Apr. 15, 195s will exhibit a generally circular cutout or recess '11. The adjoiningends of thel uprightportionsoffianges 6 form tabs 12," 12; andithmsegmental.recesses 13, 13of'th e inwardly directed" lower edge portions of the 'flangesdefine circular cutouts at the underside of the body in alignment with and spaced from the cutout 11 at the top, as illustrated in Fig. 7. In completing the corner, the socket member 3 is seated in the cutouts 11 and 13, 13 respectively, see Fig. 8, so that the upper end of the socket member lies flush with the work surface of the body, the tabs 12, 12 respectively are pressed inwardly so as to lie against the side of the socket member 3, and the socket member is then secured in place by welding at 14,15 and 16 respectively as illustrated in Figs. 4, 6, and 8 respectively, the weld 14 also joining the confronting edges of the tabs 12, 12 respectively. The corner thus conforms incontour to the cylindrical form of the socket member 3. The weld 15 extends about the edges of the cutouts 13, 13 on the inwardly directed portions of the flange 6; and the weld 16 similarly extends about the periphery of the cutout 11 at the underside of the work surface of the truck body.

Welding of the corner in the above-described manner aifords a smooth work surface at the top of the truck, the welds being confined to the underportions. The construction also affords great strength and rigidity at the several corners of the truck body, the tubular socket members assuming the added function of corner reinforcing elements and avoiding necessity for other and more complicated reinforcing structure. The great simplification effected by inclusion of the socket member in the corner structure by the method described above will be apparent.

We claim: 1

l. A method of forming metallic truck bodies having socketed andreinforced corners, which consists in providing a rectangular metal sheet; cutting out each of the corners of said sheet in the same manner, each cutout extending diagonally of the sheet and providing two tabs whose outer edges are substantially straight and are disposed at right angles to each other, the portions of the two tabs that are nearest each other being separated by a narrow slot, a generally circular recess being inwardly of said narrow slot and merging into it, each tab being bounded on its inner end by a portion of the edge defining the circular recess and on its outer end by an edge of segmental configuration, each said two tabs, narrow slot, generally circular recess and edges of segmental configuration being formed by a single cutout operation; bending downwardly the side edge portions of the metal sheet which are disposed outwardly beyond the generally circular recesses to leave said recesses disposed on the top of said sheet at the corners thereof and to form depending flanges along the four sides of the sheet with inturned terminal flanges, said inturned flanges terminating at their adjacent ends in said edges of segmental configuration which cooperate to define a substantially circular recess beneath and aligned vertically with the generally circular recess at each corner of the sheet, the tabs being substantially vertical with their straight edges close together in spaced parallel relation; inserting a tubular metal socket member through each generally circular recess and through the underlying substantially circular recess formed by the cooperating segmental edges at the adjacent ends of said inturned terminal flanges; and welding the edges defining each generally circular recess, the vertical, spaced, straight edges of the two tabs .and the cooperating edges of segmental configuration soeket for reeeiving a leg pt an end rack or like super welded with its upper vend flush with the top surface of 5 the metalsheet, thelo'wer end of eachsocket member being drawn to a reduced inside diameter to limit downlwardmovementpf the leg inserted therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Scrymgeour Jan. 24, 1888 Betts Oct. 2, 1888 Redding Mar. 1, 1921 Clements Mar. 7, 1939 Norquist Feb. 19, 1952 

